Letters -- Published Nov. 21, 2012

Recently The Record reported that $6 billion had been spent on the presidential campaign while $12 million had been spent on two congressional campaigns.

Recently The Record reported that $6 billion had been spent on the presidential campaign while $12 million had been spent on two congressional campaigns.

On Nov. 8, the San Francisco Chronicle reported $53 million had been contributed by Super PACs, or political action committees, for various congressional campaigns. Whether the amount is $6 million, $12 million or $53 million, there are exorbitantly obscene amounts of money to promote a political candidate or a proposition.

In the meantime, citizens are suffering from unemployment, hunger, high crime, educational cuts, lack of affordable housing, lack of accessible and affordable health care, and the aftermath of natural disorders, such as superstorm Sandy.

It seems to me that this lavish campaign spending has lost touch with reality. The gross amounts of money spent on the campaigns could very well have been applied to assisting the needy, building housing for the homeless, improving American education, or investing in insurance programs for the elderly and uninsured. The campaign money could also have been applied to a weather surge to protect New York from devastating weather damage.

Was all that money necessary for the various candidates to win? I highly doubt it. What I do know is that the money raised could have gone toward more honorable causes than the slanderous campaigning that occurred in this area during this election process.

I hope some politicians consider donating his or her residual campaign coffer toward a worthy, charitable cause, such as providing someone with food, clothes, shelter or medical care. Maybe this will relieve the sickness in my stomach over the obviously gross campaign spending, or at least mitigate the numbing hunger of a child's empty and aching stomach.

Teresa VosperEscalon

Congratulations to new Mayor Anthony Silva on his overwhelming win Nov. 6. The citizens of Stockton clearly are ready for change.

I appreciate crime is our No. 1 concern, but let's not lose sight on another department that needs to also be a priority. Stockton's new fire chief wasted no time in publicly demoralizing the city's fire department in his Record interview. The national recruitment firm needs to stop giving bonus points for arrogance, as they obviously did when hiring the city manager and now the fire chief. The only message the chief's interview sent was that Stockton Fire has been doing everything wrong for the past 125 years.

Good news, though: He is here to correct the mistakes by putting pumps on fire trucks. Nothing like stepping back in time 30 years! Simply stated, fire engine personnel put the fire out and fire truck personnel perform citizen rescue and ventilation. These are two separate operations, and how large municipal fire departments function in today's world. Any attempt to combine the two will have detrimental effects on the fire ground, ultimately endangering the citizens of Stockton as well as the firefighters.

Chief Jeff Piechura, in his first 60 days on the job, should recognize the good in the organization and embrace these professional firefighters who put their lives on the line every day. Stockton Fire has been recognized as being an elite Class 1 department for 41 years. This recognition was not given away, it was earned!